KDHE Receives $4.5 Million in Grant Funding from HRSA
for Hospital Emergency Preparedness

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) will award more than $4.5 million in funding from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to enable hospitals to further develop their ability to respond to emergencies and mass-casualty events. The funding award, which will also be administered by the Kansas Hospital Education and Research Foundation (KHERF), is part of a larger $471 million package being allocated by Congress to states.

“Hospitals are vital institutions to a community. This funding allows them to be more prepared and results in better overall preparedness in Kansas communities when large-scale emergencies hit, ” said Roderick Bremby, Secretary of KDHE.

“Mass-casualty events” are emergencies that result in large numbers of patients suddenly requiring treatment at one or more hospitals, such as natural disasters, transportation accidents, large explosions, fires or chemical releases, terrorism incidents, certain kinds of disease outbreaks, and other such events.

Examples of how the HRSA funds could be used by hospitals to prepare for mass-casualty events include, but are not limited to:

• Planning to ensure the efficient use of available beds, in partnership with other healthcare organizations
• Increase availability of medical isolation rooms for treating people with infectious diseases.
• Identifying personnel who could supplement regular hospital staff in an emergency
• Establishing hospital-based pharmaceutical caches so that more medicines can be immediately available to treat larger numbers of people
• Providing mental health services for survivors of mass casualty events, responders, and families
• Delivering trauma and burn care in response to explosions, fires and other incidents
• Improving communications systems
• Purchasing personal protective equipment to shield healthcare workers from hazardous chemicals that may be present with exposed patients

The funds are also designated for the Kansas Board of Emergency Medical Services in order to develop a more comprehensive emergency response plan, the KU poison control center, and the creation of an electronic disease surveillance system.

This is the fourth year that Kansas has received funding for hospital preparedness.

Back to KDHE News Release Index